The Wayzata Subdivision of Burlington Northern Santa Fe's Willmar covers
90 miles between Minneapolis and Willmar. The line crosses the Mississippi
River on the Nicollet Island Railroad Bridge, then heads west passing just
north Cedar Lake, around the top of Lake Minnetonka, then through the cities
of Delano and Litchfield before arriving at a junction in Willmar. The line
crosses the Minnehaha Creek twice at bridges set about a half-mile apart
located between Hopkins Crossroad and Interstate highway I-494 in
Minnetonka.

The Wayzata Subdivision dates back to the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad,
which was chartered in 1857. The charter was assigned to the Saint Paul &
Pacific Railroad in 1862, which reached Lake Minnetonka in 1867. The
“Minnetonka Cutoff”, following the current route, was opened in
1883. The Saint Paul & Pacific evolved into the Great Northern in 1890,
which merged with the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy
in 1970 to become the Burlington Northern. A later merger with the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad resulted in the BNSF, the current
owners of this line.

The two bridges over the Minnehaha Creek are nearly identical concrete
girder bridges, each about 50 feet long. The abutments appear to date
back to the original bridges at this location, which were built in 1883.
The Wayzata Subdivision was built as a double-track mainline. It has
operated as a single track line since at least 1991 based on an aerial
photograph of the western suburbs. As a result, the current bridges carry
only a single track over the creek. As of 2007, traffic levels were about
10 trains a day moving at up to 40 miles per hour.

The photo above is looking north towards the BNSF Railroad Bridge from the
abandoned roadbed of the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. This location
can be found by parking at the canoe landing along Hopkins Crossroad just
south of the creek, and then walking west along the creek bank. The photo
below is another view from the same abandoned railroad roadbed.

These two photos are looking east across the bridge from the west side of
the creek crossing. The photo above is taken from the unused side of the
railroad line, while the photo below is a view from near the southwest corner
of the structure. The bridge in the background is Hopkins Crossroad. The
housing development is the Cedar Pointe townhomes.

These two photos are looking east along the north face of the bridge. The
photo above is a view from track level, showing the abutment on the far side
of the creek. The photo below is a view from a slightly higher vantage
point, showing both the railroad tracks and looking down at the creek.